||


  *Comments on The Raceway at Belle Isle:*
  View the most recent comment <#7> | Post a comment <#post>


  1.   Cooper posted:
  03.29.2010 - 11:36 am
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

CART ran races at 2.1M and 2.346M distances from 1992 to 2001.
IZOD Indycar Series went to Belle Isle in 2007 and 2008 racing the
course in it's 2.1M variation.

"The Detroit Indy Grand Prix presented by Firestone was a weekend of
professional racing featuring competition from both the ALMS and the
IndyCar Series, along with several support races. Held on the Saturday
and Sunday of Labor Day weekend, the races run at The Raceway on Belle
Isle in Detroit.

Open wheel racing in Detroit dates back to the 1920s-1950's, when AAA
held the Detroit 100 at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. AAA also held
one five-mile (8 km), non-championship race at Grosse Pointe in 1905."

The race was canceled in 2009, because of Detroit's economic crisis.
Roger Penske who spearheaded the talks in 2006 to put the circuit on the
schedule, has stated that he'd like to have the Belle Isle back on the
circuit in the future.


  2.   RaceFanX posted:
  04.11.2010 - 3:25 pm
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

Replaced Detroit's downtown street circuit which had hosted F1, Trans-Am
and CART from 1984-1991. The Belle Isle course was first proposed in the
F1-era but they never went through with it until the CART-era


  3.   RaceFanX posted:
  01.19.2014 - 8:38 pm
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

Will soon be run on Michigan State Park land, Belle Isle was recently
donated to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to become a
state park. It should not affect the race track.


  4.   RaceFanX posted:
  06.02.2018 - 5:48 pm
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

Starting in 2018 the location of victory lane at this street track was
changed to be located in front of Belle Isle's famous James Scott
Memorial Fountain. The gorgeous white marble structure was built in 1925.

Scott was a controversial figure, a rich socialite who inherited his
fortune from his father who had been a real estate tycoon. The young
Scott became infamous for his love of gambling, a passion for womanizing
while never settling down, his enjoyment of pulling pranks, his mean
tendency to sue his business rivals, and doing almost anything but
working yet only became richer and richer because of smart real estate
investments. Why would a guy like that receive a giant memorial
fountain? Simple, he left his fortune to the city upon his death to fund
its construction. Scott's will also insisted that the fountain MUST
include a giant life-size bronze statue of himself. After more than a
decade of dispute over that request the city built the fountain...and
placed the requisite stature of Mr. Scott in an obscure spot behind it
all but out of view.


  5.   Canadianfan posted:
  04.06.2020 - 1:14 pm
   Rate this comment:      (1)      (0)

From Adam Stern:

@IndyCar has permanently cancelled the @DetroitGP for 2020, and Texas
Motor Speedway is now the scheduled opener on June 6th.

? Meanwhile, IndyCar is making Iowa and Laguna Seca doubleheaders, and
adding a new third race weekend @IMS in October for a second road-course
event.

(I hope they run the F1 layout for the third Indy race.)


  6.   Corey posted:
  04.06.2020 - 6:28 pm
   Rate this comment:      (1)      (0)

@5 IndyCar would just stick to announcing postponements and
cancellations. Announcing what the schedule is going to be just gives
false hope.


  7.   RaceFanX posted:
  08.25.2020 - 11:17 am
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

This is about the closest a major American racetrack has come to being
situated right on an international border. Belle Isle is located right
in the middled of the Detroit River which acts as the border between the
United States and Canada. The island is located in Michigan but the
state's border with Ontario is just south of it.

Michigan is the only state in the United States were quickest way to
enter Canada is often to head directly south. Detroit is actually
located to the north of its neighbor Windsor, Ontario.


------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Post a comment:*
Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved
by the moderator.

Name:

Comment: